The National Biennial of New Australian Art: a guide

The more you look at Nell’s installation, the more you feel as though there’s a code to unlocking what it all means, and how each item relates to the others. And there is, in a way. 

It might seem like artless provocation to some, but this young artist's practice is the product of thoughtful study of – and irreverence towards – establishment values and aesthetics.

To make this work, Quandamooka artist Megan Cope ate a lot of oysters – Sydney rock oysters, to be precise.

Colombian-born Sydney-raised artist Claudia Nicholson is known for her contemporary twist on the colourful ‘alfombra de aserrín’ (traditional South American sawdust carpet), created painstakingly over several days using sawdust, glitter and pigment – and in the case of her work at Carriageworks, fresh rose petals.

You can see the results of degrees in fine arts, sociology and graphic design in the works of Emily Floyd – but even more evident than these, perhaps, is her upbringing in a family whose business was toymaking. 

The garments of Karla Dickens’ ‘Bound’ series are beautiful from afar, slightly macabre on closer inspection, and quietly devastating once you read the accompanying poem.

'The Gathering' is the dark heart at the centre of the Museum of Contemporary Art’s exhibition space for the National. It quietly but resolutely shows the unconscionable acts on which contemporary Australia is literally and figuratively built.

Yhonnie Scarce’s installation looks beautiful, even magical at first glance – and then you notice the title; or maybe it’s the ‘horns’ of the formation that sets off a sense of misgiving. “I’ve noticed it has a mouth,” says the artist.